


i loved someone i barley knew

by millur



Series: miller's dnf [2]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Bullying, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Underage Drinking, Vomiting, mostly just fluff tbh, not graphic though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 06:47:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28738986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/millur/pseuds/millur
Summary: how two boys met at 8, hated each other by 11 and were each other's everything by 18.
Relationships: Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Karl Jacobs/Sapnap, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: miller's dnf [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2172030
Comments: 16
Kudos: 400





	i loved someone i barley knew

**Author's Note:**

> [title from Penelope Scott's 'Feel Better’]

Dream was 8 when he first saw him- the new boy. Fresh off the plane from the UK. His recent introduction to the Florida heat being shown by a light sprinkle of sun burn decorating his pale face, and a strong yet smooth accent. The teacher presented him to the class with a smile on her face, introducing him as 'George'. Dream scrunched his nose up at that. 'George' somehow managed to be both a posh name and a dumb name, a name the kid seemed to match. His clothes were neat and there wasn't a dark hair out of place on his head, he wasn't frowning, but he didn't look particularly happy to be meeting the class either; it felt almost as if he was looking down on them. When seated in the middle of the room, he made no effort to interact with the other children, instead he focused his attention on the work.

Although Dream wasn't impressed by the kids debut, he had a natural curiosity for the new boy. He was excited to talk to him in the same way he was excited to play with new toys on Christmas, even if they'll end up disregarded and forgotten within a few weeks. After consulting his partner-in-crime Sapnap, they decided it would be rude for them to not invite the kid to sit with them at lunch, initiate him into their group and teach him the true joy of being a Florida boy. As soon as the bell rang, the followed George into the corridor, and quickly dashed in front of him, stopping him in his tracks.  
"Hi! I'm Clay but you can call me Dream, everyone does," Dream blurted out, "and this is Sapnap, we're best friends, have been for ages."  
He turned to point at Sapnap who was stood behind him, frantically nodding his head in response to the other boys words while wearing a big, toothy grin. Looking back at George, he realised the kid had a look of pure horror on his face, and so panicking, he continued to ramble,  
"We were wondering if you would like to come and have lunch with us- y'know cus you look so lonely by yourself. We always have lunch on a table outside and it's so cool cus sometimes bugs land on our table and if you dare Sapnap to eat one, chances are he will-"  
"No, thank you."  
George abruptly cut off Dream's verbal diarrhea, and barged past the two boys. He quickly walked away, hugging his books and keeping his head down, leaving Dream standing in the middle of the busy corridor with his mouth agape.  
"Fine," he shouted after him, "I wouldn't want to be friends with someone as boring as you anyway!"  
Dream turned and began storming in the direction of the cafeteria, dragging a snickering Sapnap after him, before turning back towards George.  
"And by the way, your accent is ugly!"  
He wasn't even sure if the dark haired boy could still hear him, but for some reason, Dream was desperate to hurt the boy as much as possible after being humiliated and rejected by him.

✬

After their unfortunate first meeting, Dream was incapable of letting the British boy live in peace. Each day he taunted George from across the classroom, throwing pieces of paper and garbage at him, imitating his accent in the most annoying way possible, and just doing everything in his power to make his life miserable. Dream wasn't used to being told 'no' by anyone, not even his parents, and it was for this reason he grew an obsession for the other boy. What bothered him most about George was how he never reacted to any of his teasing, even when dream had been crafting an insult for days to make it as airtight as possible, instead he continued to keep his head down and stay as quiet as possible. This wasn't to say that George was lonely- he had managed to befriend a silent boy named Callahan and a friendly, energetic boy called Karl. George's friendship with Karl created quite a few problems for Dream, mainly due to the fact that Karl also happened to be friendly with Sapnap, meaning that Dream's closest friend would never make fun of George in fear of upsetting Karl. Sapnap's absence didn't bother the blonde boy too much however. He was fine with George's downfall being a solo mission; he was able to focus more.

His relentless bullying carried on for years, and still George did not break. Not when Dream tripped him up in front of all his peers, not when Dream orchestrated each P.E. lesson so he wouldn't get picked for either team, not even when Dream made sure to laugh loudly every time he stumbled on his words or spoke too quietly when answering a question in class. Somehow, throughout every serving of teasing George was delivered, he managed to maintain his unreadable expression and stone cold eyes. Dream was pissed. He hated the boy with every bone in his body. He hated how every time he went to humiliate the Brit it ended with Dream feeling embarrassed by his lack of response. Was George really so arrogant that no amount of taunting could wipe the smugness off his face? 

While surfing different Minecraft streams one evening, Dream stumbled across a preteen streamer who sounded vaguely familiar. It was only 20 minutes into the stream when it clicked in his brain that this boy he was watching attempt to build a little mushroom house was none other than George from school. To confirm this wasn't just him being overly obsessed with the Brit, Dream checked the name of the streamer. 'GeorgeNotFound'. He smirked to himself, knowing that being outed as a Minecraft streamer could be detrimental to the other boy's already nerdy image. A master plan began to form in his mind: tell everyone his 6 year old sister was watching a Minecraft stream (letting his friends know he himself liked Minecraft would be social suicide), play everyone the most embarrassing clip he could find of George's stream and watch as utter chaos unfolds and destroys the already slim chance George had of being liked by his peers. Dream couldn't help but smile to himself after he devised his strategy, he believed that this might just be the time that George finally breaks. 

The next morning couldn't arrive soon enough, and Dream ended up sat waiting in class 10 minutes earlier than usual when it did. When the remainder of his group filed into the room, and Dream had made sure George was nearby enough to hear his taunts, Dream pulled out his phone.  
"Hey guys, you'll never guess what I found last night."  
His friends all focused their attention on him, and so he continued.  
"My little sister was watching one of those dumb Minecraft streamers and I thought the dude sounded familiar."  
He briefly turned to George to see if he was listening or if he needed to speak a bit louder, but was pleasantly surprised when he saw George's shoulders looking unusually tense.  
"Just listen to this." Dream finished with a smirk.  
He played a clip of George's stream taking note of his friends reactions to the girlish screams George let out, as well as George's apparent passion and happiness when speaking about his build in the game. It was at this point Dream noticed that the reason he hadn't immediately realised the streamer was his peer was because while streaming, George spoke with a warmth Dream had never witnessed in person from the boy. This filled his brain with more rage and more questions- why did George never act like that in class? Was he so smug he thought he was above letting loose and having fun with the other boys? Dream was pulled back to reality when George's mother's voice appeared on stream, and his peers all went wild at the use of his nickname 'Gogy'. Smirking, Dream put his phone away and pointed in the direction of the British boy, who was so obviously trying to look as focused on his book so as to attract as little as attention as possible. His eyes were stone cold as ever, and his expression was unreadable. 

Dream and his friends scuttled over to stand in front of the boy, giggling under their breath and sharing unspoken teasing words through quick glances.  
"Hello Gogy," Dream drawled, extending the nickname's last syllable to annoy the boy even more.  
"Hello." George replied quietly, refusing to even look up from his novel.  
"Tell me Gogy… played any Minecraft recently?" The boys surrounding the brunette giggled in unison.  
"Nope."  
"Hmm.. Are you sure? What about streaming? Sure you haven't streamed Minecraft recently?"  
"I've never streamed."  
"Well me and the boys happened to have stumbled across a streamer who sounds exactly like you- and would you believe it! He's even called George! How exciting!"  
"Lots of British people are called George."  
Dream was beginning to get annoyed. George, yet again, was seemingly unaffected by the boys teasing, even though it was painstakingly obvious that he'd done everything Dream was accusing him of. Dream was only seconds away from snapping and beating the Brit to shit before luckily, the teacher entered the room, forcing the boys to return to their seats.

Dream's anger didn't fade, however. He sat for the remainder of class staring at the back of Georges head, disregarding every word the teacher spoke. When the bell rang, Dream packed his things away at record breaking speeds, yet somehow George managed to leave the classroom before him, Karl Jacobs in tow. Dream stormed out of the room in pursuit, but briefly lost sight of the other duo. In an attempt to cool himself down, he made a start towards the nearby bathroom, but while opening the door, he heard an easily recognisable voice.  
"I don't know why he keeps doing it Karl- I- What have I ever done to him?"  
Dream stopped in his tracks, halfway through the bathroom doorway. He couldn't see the Brit but he was undoubtably in the room. And he was crying. George was finally crying.  
"He does it because he's a bully George. There's nothing more to it, and you shouldn't waste your time worrying about him"  
Karl's words shocked Dream. He wasn't a bully- no, that wasn't him at all. George had been provoking him! He was basically acting in self-defense -  
"But why me? I've barely even spoken to him and I've always tried to be polite… I don't get it."  
Was that right? No, no. George had definitely started this whole thing. He was the one who was rude on his first day. Well maybe that was because he was nervous but still, Dream wasn't to blame for all this, was he?  
"Maybe he teases you cus you're shy. I mean it's no excuse but it might be a reason. You never fight back."  
But George wasn't shy. He was just some arrogant kid who never bothered to speak to Dream properly. He only ever read his dumb books and spoke to like 3 people- he wasn't shy, he was obnoxious-  
"I just don't know what to do- don't know what to do to get him to stop."  
George sounded so gentle. He sounded so lost. It hit Dream like an avalanche.

Dream stumbled out of his place in the bathroom doorway, and sprinted down the corridor in the opposite direction of the boy he had been relentlessly bullying since the age of 8. He ran all the way to the other side of the school, before slamming the door open to another bathroom and rushing into a cubicle. Without much notice of whether anyone else was in the room with him, Dream sat on the floor next to the toilet and held his head in his hands. How could he have been so stupid? He was the problem all along. He was the reason why George was always so expressionless, why his tone was always so empty. Dream knew he could be a lot sometimes, but he hadn't even stopped to think until now that he was overwhelming the other boy. Guilt washed over him like a tsunami. In desperation, Dream tried to come up with a master plan to make things right, but no genius arrived. When it came to ideas about how to make George's life as miserable as possible, Dream was never short of inspiration, but the same boy had no clue how to start about making things right. After sitting around moping for a few minutes, the bell rang, and Dream decided he would do exactly what the other boy wanted him to do- he'd stop. He'd leave him alone.

For the remainder of the school day, Dream's did just that. He didn't taunt the boy once, even when it would've been so easy to when he got an amazingly easy English question wrong. It was only at the end of the day a problem arose. While leaving the building, Dream accidentally knocked into George, almost pushing the much smaller boy over.  
"Oh my god, I really didn't mean to do that, I-"  
"It's fine."  
George was staring at his shoes, refusing to even meet Dream's eyes. Dream gulped.  
"I'm- I'm s-"  
He trailed off. An apology tasted like acid on his tongue, so he turned away from his victim and began walking. He felt so guilty, he didn't understand why he couldn't say it, why he couldn't just admit he was wrong. He didn't know how to make this right. His whole body felt on fire, itchy, burning up. His impulse control disappeared.  
"If that was your stream earlier," Dream turned to say hurriedly to George, "then that’s pretty cool. Minecraft I mean. I like it. I liked your stream too. I thought that house you were building was cute and-"  
Dream stopped himself before he could embarrass himself further. With one last look at George's now bright red face, he turned to sprint in the direction of his mom's car.

✬

Dream's pledge to leave George alone was mostly successful. George had managed to escape any hint of bullying for years, with Dream even stepping in when other people tried to victimise the boy. The only time the two boys interacted was when they had to for school projects, or when Sapnap and Karl's close friendship brought them together. With hindsight, the switch must've been a fairly strange experience for George, as Dream's approach to him changed entirely overnight with seemingly no trigger. By the time high school rolled around, the two barely shared any classes, but didn't avoid each other entirely either. This fact benefitted the pair when Sapnap's parents went away for a weekend in freshman year leading him to decide that he wanted to be the first person to host a proper party, meaning that George and Dream would both be invited. 

Standing in Sapnap's kitchen, inexperienced hands grasped around a cheap beer they'd persuaded Karl's older cousin to get, Dream stood staring at the floor. Although it had been years since his and George's constant clashing, the boy had no clue how to act around the brunet. Anxiety flew throughout Dream's body, not aided by the fact that the party was a fairly small affair. His eyes drifted towards the drink in his hand and suddenly an idea formed in his mind- there must be a reason people called this stuff liquid courage right? He meandered over to Sapnap with a grin plastered across his face.  
"Hey Sapnap," he muttered, "wanna dare me to chug this whole thing?"  
Sapnap's face instantly lit up at the idea. 

Within the next hour Dream swallowed down drink after drink, dancing and laughing with his friends. His plan worked in that he had actually been able to look at George, and even speak to him. The other boy somehow managed to remain the most sober in the room, with the remainder of their friends opting to take the same route as Dream and get blackout drunk. With this being Dream's first time experiencing anything like this, it didn't take too long for things to go wrong. His head began spinning, all colour left his face. Everyone surrounding him didn't notice a thing, everyone was too busy in their own world screaming lyrics to bad pop songs. Dream needed to get out now, everything was wrong. His skin felt wrong- he wanted to tear it off. He wanted whatever was fucking him up so bad out of his system, he needed to be sick.  
"Are you okay?" Dream looked to his left and saw none other than George next to him, a worried look on his face. In response, the blonde shook his head, sweat dripping down his skin. George took this as a prompt and hurriedly led the taller boy out of the room towards Sapnap's bathroom. As soon as they entered the room, Dream threw himself onto the floor and threw up in the toilet bowl. He felt a presence next to him as George lowered himself onto the floor, whispering words of support. After taking a few moments to calm down, Dream turned towards the other boy, confused as to why he stayed to help him through this instead of ditching him.  
"Why are you helping me?" "You've got your head in a toilet bowl. I'm not heartless-"  
George's sentiment was cut off by the returning sound of gagging from the taller boy. Dream felt a hand gently rest on his back, moving in slow circles, easing his self-inflicted pain. 

He fell apart. 

Tears quickly streamed down his face, attacking his pores, as every ounce of guilt he'd been repressing for years surged out of him. George was never heartless, but Dream was. He had taken a nervous, shy boy and painted a picture of him in his head that made him out to be a villain just because the boy was too anxious to agree to eat lunch with someone as loud as Dream when they were 8. He spent years of his adolescence torturing a boy just because he was too shy to ask him to stop. And now they were teenagers, and even though Dream knew what his 11 year old self did was wrong, he still didn't have the guts to apologise because he was heartless. So he cried. And he cried some more because he hated himself for being such a coward.  
"Hey, it's okay don't cry, I don't mind helping out everyone fucks up sometimes, just learn your limit." "Tha-that’s not why I'm crying," Dream stammered between hiccups, "I'm so sorry George, I'm just so sorry."  
The dam he had spent years masterly crafting broke impossibly more, and Dream fell in on himself, hugging his own chest trying to grasp onto a comfort he knew he didn't deserve.  
"I said it's okay! Really don't worry about it!"  
"I'm not- this isn't why I'm crying," Dream took a deep breath and continued, "I spent years bullying you and- and you're still helping me now. You should hate me. I was horrible. So horrible."  
It was silent for a second. Then George started giggling.  
"Why are you laughing? I'm being serious- I'm sorry. I'm sorry okay just stop laughing," Dream put his head in his hands as the Brit next to him started to laugh even harder. With his movement, Dream was reminded of just how drunk he was, and quickly threw himself forward to release his insides into the toilet bowl once more. He felt the hand return to his back, comforting him, and realised the laughter had stopped. After a few minutes of heaving, the room fell silent again.  
"You do understand that was years ago right? I can barely remember it. In fact what I mostly remember is me and my friends chatting shit about you behind your back… constantly," George smiled softly at Dream, still rubbing his back, "kids do shit things, that’s a fact. And yeah you upset me sometimes, but you shouldn't be upset about it now. That'd be dumb."  
"But I never said sorry-"  
"But you've said sorry now. And I've forgiven you. So shut up and drink some water."  
George handed him the glass of water he'd fetched him from the kitchen earlier and Dream downed the entire thing.

They sat together for a few more minutes, Dream beginning to feel a lot better and George cracking the occasional joke to try and lighten the mood, until Dream decided he'd had enough moping. He hauled himself up off Sapnap's bathroom floor, and held his hand out to the boy he used to hate.  
"Now then Mister George," Dream joked in a terrible English accent as he pulled up the smaller boy, "I believe we have a party to attend."  
George giggled, "you sure you well enough? Done throwing up your dinner?"  
"That’s in my past now. I'm a changed man," Dream stumbled towards the door, dragging George with him, "Besides, I was only vomiting so I'd have room for more drinks- you know like what the Romans used to do. They'd eat until they were stuffed full and then drink some poison, take a quick trip to the toilet to spew their guts out, and then carry on eating like nothing happened."  
George, still fairly tipsy, laughed through the taller boy's rambling, allowing himself to be dragged back into the bright lights and blaring noise of Sapnap's living room. The rest of their friends cheered at Dream's reappearance, ushering him into the center of the room to carry on dancing and screaming the lyrics of 'Stacy's Mom' with them. All the while, George stayed attached to his side, hands still glued together despite the slippery sweat present, matching Dream's own smile with his own toothy one. Throughout the remainder of the night, every time Dream looked down at the smaller boy, he was reminded how pretty he looked with his harsh exterior broken and an expression of soft happiness on his face. 

Still heavily intoxicated, the rest of Sapnap's party passed like a blur. The next time Dream was capable of thinking straight was the morning after, when he woke up on the floor in a room full of other passed out teenagers. After scanning the room in confusion for a few seconds, he realised the body laying closest to him (although still at a respectful distance) belonged to George. Dream struggled to stop himself from grinning when remembering the boy's face from last night, and how it felt to have finally broken George, but not in the way he wanted to as a kid. The night before, George had such a beautiful smile and his voice felt like honey when it's comforting tones hit Dreams ears- he didn't want to lose that. He didn't want their blossoming friendship to slip away along with the hazed and intoxicated atmosphere of the night before, and so, in a way that felt almost nostalgic, Dream made a plan. 

Slowly, making sure to not tread on anybody's fingers or limbs, Dream made his way to Sapnap's kitchen. Upon entering the doorway, he stopped in his tracks when he saw Sapnap with Karl's smaller form leaning against him, whispering and giggling to each other. Dream cleared his throat.  
"Good morning," he smirked. Sapnap jumped, making Karl and Dream burst out laughing, mocking him.  
"Fuck off Dream, you can't just burst in like that. You could've killed me," Sapnap huffed, "you wouldn't like me if I was dead."  
"Only because you wouldn't be around to host parties like last night anymore."  
"It was pretty great wasn't it," Karl added with a smile, "I really have gotta go now Sap, my mom's waiting for me outside. Thanks for having me though"  
Karl stretched up to kiss Sapnap on his cheek, before turning and walking towards the kitchen door. Sensing a potential problem, Dream quickly stopped him in his path.  
"George isn't going home with you is he?" Karl considered the question and replied "no, he only lives a couple streets away, I think he's planning on walking home. His parents are gonna kill him for missing curfew though."  
"Okay, good. Well I mean not good about the parents thing, but I wanted to make him some food before-"  
"As much as I'd like to listen to your rambling Dream, I really have gotta go." Karl interrupted, "good luck!"  
Dream turned back to Sapnap, who was still staring at Karl's retreating body, holding his cheek. Snickering at his whipped friend, Dream made a start on throwing open all of the kitchen cupboard doors in an attempt to find some ingredients for George's Special Breakfast Surprise. To his surprise, Sapnap even agreed to help. After about half an hour of demolishing Sapnap's parents' cooking supplies, the two teenagers were left with a rather sad looking portion of pancakes, but for his first time cooking, Dream couldn't have been happier. After setting Sapnap's dining room table, and placing down his masterpiece of a meal, Dream made his way towards where he knew George was passed out.  
"George," he began, before panic started to rise in his chest. The boy was no longer where Dream had left him.

Dream felt so stupid. He knew he'd taken too long sieving the flour! In an attempt to salvage his plan, Dream made a start towards the front door, hoping to catch George before he disappeared. The panic was so prominent in his head that Dream entirely missed the fact that he passed George in the hallway on his way to the door, before falling to his knees on the doorstep in defeat. Suddenly, Dream felt a cautious hand on his back.  
"You okay there Dream?"  
Dream turned to stare at the owner of the voice, maintained eye contact with him for a few seconds and finally realised through the fog of worry that was his brain that George was in fact still there. He jumped to his feet and grabbed George's arm, pulling him in the direction of Sapnap's dining room.  
"I made you breakfast, I was worried, thought you'd already gone," Dream said, seating George at the table. For a moment, George's eyes almost softened. He stared at the plate before him while Dream sat beside him excitedly.  
"They aren't poisoned are they?" "What? NO! No George, I just thought that maybe you'd like some pancakes. I thought everyone liked pancakes I mean they're a pretty inoffensive food, pretty much the Jack Black of breakfast foods, who doesn't like Jack Black?" George sat through Dream's rambling, cautiously letting a smile grow on his face before beginning to eat one of the pancakes set out in front of him. Dream whooped in his seat, before setting off back to the kitchen.  
"Wait, where are you going?" George asked, face falling.  
"I was gonna go get you a drink, maybe apple juice or something."  
"Aren't you going to have some? There's too much for just me here." Dream considered him before letting a grin spread across his face.  
"Of course I'll eat with you, I'll be right back."  
Dream ran as quickly as he could to grab drinks for the two of them before returning to Sapnap's dining room and throwing himself back into the chair next to George's. Conversation came surprisingly easy to the pair, and with each little giggle that passed the brunette's lips, Dream became more and more cemented in his new plan regarding George.  
Get George to smile as often as possible. 

✬

Not a day passed after Sapnap's party where Dream and George didn't talk. Dream had made it his routine to wait outside of George's classes when they finished, just so he could catch the brunette and walk him to his next one. Sometimes he even insisted on carrying George's things for him, just to see the other boys flustered face and cute blush when he accepts the offer. Dream absolutely basked in the glory that was George's sunshine smile, and each day had a different scheme to tempt and appearance from George's soft side. This wasn't to say that it was easy to break down George's barriers, however, a big portion of Dream's jokes didn't land and he was often met by stone cold eyes and dismissal. It hurt Dream to think that the long term appearance of George's soft side was ultimately impossible, and so he chose to ignore that fact. Instead, he favored doing everything in his capability to make George as happy as possible as often as possible. He did have certain boundaries he didn't pass though, still in fear of ever pushing the brunet too far and returning to a civil relationship at best. He never hugged George like he did his other friends. He never mocked him or teased him either as he was scared the other would think he hadn't changed after all. Dream was so scared to upset George, he never wanted to see the boy cry again. 

Dream finally got his driver's license on a spring day in sophomore year. It was something he'd built up in his mind for so long- he had so many plans. He was going to drive him and Sapnap to football games in other cities, he was going to drive to his local coffee shop instead of doing the 15 minute walk just because he could. With all these plans whirling around his head, Dream was somewhat surprised to find himself parked outside George's house the very same evening he'd gotten his license. It was an impulsive act really, he decided without much thought that George was the one he wanted to drive with first. Nervously, he sat staring at George's contact on his phone before finally sending the Brit a quick 'come outside :)'. 

Within seconds, George was exiting his front door and walking over to Dream's car. He opened the passenger side door, before speaking.  
"What the fuck are you doing here Dream."  
"I got my license. That means we're going on an adventure- duh," Dream said matter-of-factly, "please get in Gogy! I'll take you somewhere fun, I promise."  
George rolled his eyes and climbed into the passenger seat. "I swear if you take us to Walmart I am going to be so disappointed in you."  
"Don't worry, we're not going to Walmart, I have taste."

10 minutes later, the two boys pulled into the Target parking lot causing George to turn to Dream with a bored look on his face.  
"C'mon it'll be fun! Especially with me!" Dream smiled at him, hoping to charm him into agreement. George huffed at that but began getting out the car, shortly followed by Dream. They made their way into the entrance of the store, before Dream chose to drag the brunet along to the gaming section to browse. Standing together, looking at an assortment of games, Dream began to ramble. He pointed at each package that sparked his interest in turn, letting everything that came to mind fall from his mouth. George fell into his words and gently let his head rest on Dream's shoulder as the blonde spoke. The atmosphere quickly turned awkward as Dream suddenly stopped talking.  
"What's wrong?" George asked.  
"Nothing."  
George quickly lifted his head off of the blonde's shoulder at his blunt reply. "Sorry I forgot you don't like touching."  
Confused, Dream turned to George with a furrowed brow and spoke again, "what? I don't mind touching- I thought you didn't like hugs and shit."  
"Huh? You're the one who refuses to hug me. And you literally just froze up then- why- why are you laughing?" Dream had begun to laugh during George's response, mostly at his own stupidity. He'd been so desperate to not make the smaller boy uncomfortable, he must have somehow managed to appear closed off in himself. Calming down, he reached for George's hand and stared down at the other with an affectionate gaze. Now he knew George wasn't uncomfortable about physical affection, he was not going to be shy about delivering such. George blushed and turned his focus to the floor as Dream dragged him towards the candy section.  
"Just a miscommunication Georgie, now let's have some fun."

It was dark by the time the two boys piled back into Dream's car. During their trip, Dream had found it especially fun to lure a blush onto George's cheeks by slinging his arm over the other at any opportunity. He thought George looked nothing short of ethereal when flustered, unable to form a proper sentence. Sat at his steering wheel after dropping the brunet back outside his house, Dream found himself unable to think of anything but George. And his face. And his smile. And his stupid pretty accent. The blonde couldn't stop a grin spreading across his own lips as he thought of George giggling like a teenage girl in his passenger seat just moments before. Everything about the Brit just seemed so perfect to him. He wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. It wasn't until Dream reached his own drive when his stomach dropped in realisation- he wanted to spend every living moment with George. He couldn't imagine spending the rest of his life with anyone else. Why? How had George become so important to him, he didn't think of any of his other friends this way- he-

He was in love with George. 

✬

With each passing month, the pair of boys continued to appear closer and closer. George had kissed goodbye to the majority of his anxiety surrounding their friendship, and now opted to be as close as possible to Dream at all possible times. As much as Dream loved the attention of his best friend's head in his lap while they sat under a tree eating lunch together or his significantly smaller hands reaching up to trail lazily through Dream's hair in a comforting way at their movie nights, he felt guilty taking even as much as a hug from the other. Dream knew at this point of course that he was head-over-heels in love with the British boy, and pretending that each lingering gaze and arm around the smaller's waist was completely platonic was slowly killing him. There were moments when George would look up at him with a particular sparkle in his eye and Dream would have to physically remove himself from the situation to prevent him confessing his undying love right there on the spot. George was like an addiction to Dream- the blonde's self-control was weak. He knew he should distance himself from George so as to not make it uncomfortable for the boy when his true feelings were inevitably revealed, but he couldn’t resist him. Dream found himself initiating just as much physical contact with the other, reaching out for his hand in corridors, draping a strong arm over his shoulder when a random girl starts getting a little bit too friendly, getting so close- too close- tempting his uncontrollable impulses to confess all his feelings. There were brief moments where Dream allowed himself the optimistic thought that George liked him back, but he knew deep down it was impossible. George had never been interested in any boy before; George was not gay. 

Dream's optimism slipped so naturally into moments like this, however, with George sat next to him on his bed, talking animatedly about something Karl had done that day in English class. The two had reached junior year and preferred to ignore the impending doom of senior year, college applications and graduation to instead sit in each other's company every day after school. In these shared moments, it was common for one of the pair to breach the border of socially accepted platonic behavior and initiate cuddling. Dream fell into this role today, slipping an arm around the smaller boy's waist and pulling him into his chest, ignoring his surprised gasp and gentle giggling, choosing to smother him instead. While running his hands up and down George's back, George snuggled in closer to his shoulder, basking in his warmth. It was too much for Dream to take.  
"You're so fucking cute." He said breathlessly, not realizing the words fell out of his mouth until seconds after, when George looked up at him with a smirk. Panic rose throughout his body as he gently removed himself from George's grasp. He didn't notice the brunet's hurt face when sliding over to the other side of the bed, all he could think about is how he fucked up, how -shit- he was going to make George uncomfortable and the George wouldn't want to be his friend anymore and he'd lose George- but he couldn't lose George, he couldn't-

"We're not normal friends are we?"

George's words were more of a statement than a question; a statement that made Dream's insides flip. He looked to his left at the boy he'd fallen in love with, and was devastated to see a gloss over the brunette's eyes. Quickly scrambling to find the right thing to say to stop George from crying, Dream reached over to play with his soft hair and replied.  
"Yeah we're best friends-"  
"That's not what I meant."  
As George sighed and turned to face the other direction, Dream saw a tear slip from his eye. Suddenly, Dream's impulse control vanished and his heart acted without consulting his brain.

"I'm in love with you."

Fuck.  
George's shoulder's tensed. Dream knew he'd just ruined everything.  
"I can stop though! I can try to stop feeling this way," Dream said, wrapping his arms around his friend's torso in an attempt to ease some of his tension. Upon seeing George's eyes wide in either shock or disgust, he quickly withdrew. "Shit, sorry, you don't want me touching you right now, I get it- sorry." He hoped his rambling was hiding his heartbreak as he subtly fell in on himself. Everything had fallen to shit, George would never want to see him again, George probably hated him now, George-  
George threw himself on top of Dream. Tears wetting the other's shirt as he clung onto it for dear life, capturing Dream in a hug so tight it could've crushed his ribs.  
"Uh, George-"  
"I love you too, you idiot"  
The smaller looked up at Dream with tears in his eyes, but this time Dream felt no need to make them disappear. Instead, he jumped off the bed, bringing George in his arms with him and began spinning the two around his bedroom in pure bliss, taking in all the squeals of laughter spilling from George's lips. George's lips. Dream stopped his movements and held the brunet still in his arms, lifted his line of vision towards his eyes, and desperately searched for some sweet, silent permission. Doe eyes met his own, simultaneously fluttering shut. The world slowed down around the pair, time focused entirely on them; the center of the universe. Dream could feel George's shallow breath mingling with his own, until he pushed himself forward, catching his love's lips with his own. The kiss was soft, delicate. It was as if for the first time in his life, Dream was scared to break George. They moved together in a rhythm only they seemed capable of listening to, allowing themselves the piece of heaven that came with the other's company. Dream was the one that finally broke the kiss apart, choosing instead to again stare down lovingly into George's eyes, causing George to furrow his brow in confusion.  
"What are you looking at?"  
"You."  
George's breath hitched, trapping itself in his throat and painting his cheeks crimson. Dream couldn't get enough. Everything about George was so perfect to him, every single part of him. Each one of George's insecurities, Dream embraced with open, soothing arms, luring the shorter boy into a safe space of pure love. There was nowhere in this hellscape of a universe that Dream would rather be than in George's arms.  
"Always you."  
It slipped out of Dream's mouth in such an affectionate tone, George's eyes immediately fell down to his feet, flustered and nervous. Just as Dream was preparing to tease the other for his reaction, George whipped his head up with a sudden confidence and pulled the blonde into a forceful kiss. Unlike before, this kiss tasted like fire and pure passion, as if George was pumping every single emotion he'd ever felt into it. In that moment, Dream understood everything that George had trouble enunciating; he knew that his love for the boy was completely and utterly returned. He knew that this truly was love. 

✬

Junior year had finished at record breaking speeds, and before he knew it Dream was bombarded by the absolute stress that was senior year. Fortunately for Dream his college applications had ended up treating him well, and by the time graduation came around, he was feeling nothing besides optimistic about his future. This was of course aided by the boy sat snug to his side, holding his hand tightly in their final moments as high school students. George had been a steady presence in Dream's life for the previous year, offering him a comfort in stressful times just by existing. Dream hoped that he had a similar effect on George, as George's year had been equally stressful; all their college applications and acceptances matched. Neither one of the pair were ready to be separated yet, especially when they still felt like this was only the start of their relationship.

After hours of sweltering heat, forced applause and fake sentiments from teachers, their graduation finally ended. The couple shared a knowing look and a brief kiss before separating to find their individual families. Dream hurried his parents through their countless conversations with other families, desperate to return home to his bedroom. He hoped this didn't create suspicion, blaming it on being tired and hot, but in reality he had a plan. As soon as he had packed enough clothes to last him the summer, he would be sneaking out of his house and into his car, picking up his boyfriend and driving. Just driving. They hadn't picked a location, they hadn't thought it was important. Both boys had been saving money from various part time jobs for this moment and had decided that as long as they had a cheap motel room and the other's company, it didn't matter where they were. Dream hadn't told his parents of the plan, neither had George. They decided it would be easier to just leave and not worry about anybody else's judgement, at least for the summer. If they wanted to come out to their families after that then they would, but Dream chose not to worry about that yet. 

It was only at 10pm that Dream felt prepared enough to leave. He stepped out of his bedroom, duffel bag in hand, and snook down the stairs. After grabbing his car keys and spotting his parents asleep on the sofa, he quietly exited his childhood home and found himself in his car, about to leave everything he'd always knew behind. Five minutes later, he pulled up outside of George's house and shot him a quick 'I'm here :)' text. It took less than a minute for Dream to see a duffel bag get pushed out of a second story window, and only a few seconds more to see his boyfriend emerge after it. George climbed expertly down the side of his home, something he had become very practiced at after a year of sneaking out to the blonde's house almost every night. A proud smirk slid onto Dream's face at the thought of this- not once had they been caught either. After a few more seconds of waiting for George to make his way over to car, throw his bag in the back and slip into the passenger seat, Dream was finally greeted by a sweet kiss from his boyfriend. After what could've been a lifetime, they each pulled away, grinning at each other.  
"Are you ready?" Dream was the first to speak.  
"Of course."  
The car pulled away from George's driveway and slipped through the suburbs. Dream's hand found home on George's thigh, holding him tighter each time one of the boys said something to lure affectionate giggles from the other. Occasionally, the two made eye contact- George's gaze was as sweet as honey, and Dream melted into putty under it. He was more than happy to share his life with the other boy, and he knew that evening, as they passed city borders and into the unknown darkness of the night, that it was only the beginning of their freedom together.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed my shit understanding of the american education system and just america in general. i am so british it's embarassing!  
> pls comment if u can be bothered, leave kudos if u enjoyed :D
> 
> \- miller


End file.
